February 2013

“Princess Elisabeth Station – the first and, currently, only “zero emission” research facility in Antarctica” – by Ian Prickett On Saturday evening we were fortunate enough to be invited to the Belgians Research centre for dinner. Due to a rather long day prior to this and not enough distance gained due to poor snow conditions, we had contacted the Belgian team earlier in the day to let them know…

By Rob Lambert No matter how much planning, preparation, and experience you bring to your endeavours, there’s no substitute for on-the-job learning. They say every day’s a school day, and during this depot run we’re all learning plenty – about each other, about our surroundings, and about the equipment which we’re depending on to cross Antarctica this winter. The Boys (as we’re all now calling…

By Brian Newham. Yesterday was a long day and today isn’t to be any shorter but we really want to make the most of the good weather. Despite a fresh breeze it is sunny with great visibility so we need to push southwards. By late morning we arrived at an area of ‘Blue Ice’. It’s a term used to describe a surface that is just that – it’s like an ice rink but with a few surface imperfections. They…

I am sorry to annouce that the provisional event at the Royal Geographical Society on 20th March is not going to happen after all. Having put out the feelers to gauge interest it was decided by our Trustees that there was not a sufficient level to ensure that the full capacity of the RGS hall was filled. On behalf of everyone at Operations HQ and beyond who were looking forward to marking t…

By Anton Bowring, Cape Town. Yesterday the expedition support team stepped ashore properly for the first time since we left Cape Town on 7th January. Although we got off the ship in Antarctica, the ice on which we stood was afloat. Even though we were surrounded by a landscape of undulating whiteness, we were no more on terra firma than the ship itself. Inevitably we are all feeling unsettled.

A rare blog from expedition co-leader, Sir Ranulph Fiennes: “Sometimes I am asked what attracts me to Antarctica, this expedition being the third time (hopefully) that I will have crossed it. The Norwegians have a word ‘polarhullar’ meaning ‘polar hunger’, suggesting the Poles and travel to or near them is addictive. For me, I call it normal human urge. The first time I crossed the Antarctic was…

A sunny but breezy morning. 25kts and low drift. Took us about three hrs to get dug out and the Ice Train reassembled. Now we are trucking at around 5km/hr. Need to make some mileage today so likely to be a long one. Update by Brian Newham, Travers…

By Anton Bowring, on board SA Agulhas. It’s ten pm and it’s hot. The air temperature is way up in the mid 20s. We have slowed to seven knots and we are about to alter course. Cape Point lighthouse is just seven miles ahead. Looking at the chart, I can tell you that it flashes blink, blink, pause, blink every thirty seconds. The light itself stands eighty-seven meters above sea level and in good…

Just to let you know that the Ice Train was unable to proceed today. The wind rose again during the night and this morning was 40+ kts with zero visibility. However, things have calmed down and tomorrow is looking more hopeful. On a separate note, the SA Agulhas is due to arrive back in Cape Town tomorrow night, or early Wednesday evening. We’ll keep you…